vintage scsi printer question -- postscript - linux - windows

Hello from a muggy summer's day in germany..

Q: How does one send a PostScript file to a SCSI printer????

We are trying to get an old -- Agfa PCR II Film Recorder -- to work.
knoppix 5.1.1 reports
scsi0 : Tekram DC390/AM53C974 V2.1d 2004-05-27
scsi 0:0:1:0: Printer AGFA-MTX PCR2 2.22 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
scsi 0:0:1:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 2
cups > uri > scsi:/dev/sg0 = error

Windows XP finds a "generic printer" connected to scsi card

... but neither offers an interface to send a file to.

How do I send the raw postscript file to the scsi port?

At Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:06:42 -0700 (PDT) NotSure <DoNotReply2Here@gmx.net> wrote:

>
> Hello from a muggy summer's day in germany..
>
> Q: How does one send a PostScript file to a SCSI printer????
>
> We are trying to get an old -- Agfa PCR II Film Recorder -- to work.
> knoppix 5.1.1 reports
> scsi0 : Tekram DC390/AM53C974 V2.1d 2004-05-27
> scsi 0:0:1:0: Printer AGFA-MTX PCR2 2.22 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
> scsi 0:0:1:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 2
> cups > uri > scsi:/dev/sg0 = error
>
> Windows XP finds a "generic printer" connected to scsi card
>
> ... but neither offers an interface to send a file to.
>
> How do I send the raw postscript file to the scsi port?

You will need to write a (user mode) driver that talks to
/dev/sg<mumble> (or the equivalent under Windows XP). The /dev/sg
(Generic SCSI device) interface API does not provide the same IO
interface as /dev/lp<mumble> would provide.

I don't know of a kernel driver that exposes something like
/dev/lp<mumble> to a SCSI-based printer. You could look at the code for
the usblp driver for ideas for writing such a driver, but you do need to
find out what the Agfa PCR II Film Recorder I/O API is like first.

>
>
>

--
Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software -- Download the Model Railroad System
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Binaries for Linux and MS-Windows
heller@deepsoft.com -- http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem/

NotSure wrote:

> Hello from a muggy summer's day in germany..
>
> Q: How does one send a PostScript file to a SCSI printer????
>
> We are trying to get an old -- Agfa PCR II Film Recorder -- to work.
> knoppix 5.1.1 reports
> scsi0 : Tekram DC390/AM53C974 V2.1d 2004-05-27
> scsi 0:0:1:0: Printer AGFA-MTX PCR2 2.22 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
> scsi 0:0:1:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 2
> cups > uri > scsi:/dev/sg0 = error
>
> Windows XP finds a "generic printer" connected to scsi card
>
> ... but neither offers an interface to send a file to.
>
> How do I send the raw postscript file to the scsi port?

I don't know the details of the knoppix cups configuration, but if your
could do a test on a Linux box, you could try the cups scsi backend
and set up the film recorder as a raw printer.
From what I just learned from the internet, it should speak PostScript
level 2.

Helge

NotSure wrote:
> Hello from a muggy summer's day in germany..
>
> Q: How does one send a PostScript file to a SCSI printer????
>
> We are trying to get an old -- Agfa PCR II Film Recorder -- to work.
> knoppix 5.1.1 reports
> scsi0 : Tekram DC390/AM53C974 V2.1d 2004-05-27
> scsi 0:0:1:0: Printer AGFA-MTX PCR2 2.22 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
> scsi 0:0:1:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 2
> cups > uri > scsi:/dev/sg0 = error
>
> Windows XP finds a "generic printer" connected to scsi card
>
> ... but neither offers an interface to send a file to.
>
> How do I send the raw postscript file to the scsi port?
>
>

Just a very long shot: if you have a Postscript file then dd command
should just work.
This is raw, not through ghostscript.

HTH
Michael

MANY THANKS Robert Helge Michael Eric!!

I found out by phoning the german guys (who sell the 1100 US$
software)

The first (Berlin) just said that the Filmrecorder (Diabelichter)
is not a postscript device and "what I wanted to do -- wouldn't
work".

The second guy (Munster) was great, he explained how the film recorder
needs SCSI commands, and then will accept a bitmap. He said the
universities
that offer analogization service (digital image to analog 35 mm slide
conversion)
rolled their own. He also had a demo version of his software online,
which we downloaded and
WE GOT IT TO WORK! yey!

Amazingly both guys were the actual specialists, both had written the
software,
both were on the phone in a jiffy and both, while being germans, were
helpful!

THANKS!!

For future desperados who have the same problem
my collection of INFO howto will go here:
http://miscellaneous-sonstiges.blogs...-recorder.html